Crime

1:47 am

Tue September 24, 2013

Peoria Police step up presence following shooting deaths

The Peoria Police Department arrested a 25-year-old man in connection with a weekend shooting on South Stanley. Cortez Williams was arrested for the murder of Melvin Sanders on Saturday. The shooting follows two other gun deaths last week at 1204 West Margaret Avenue. Peoria Police Chief Steve Settingsgaard says he’s using more personnel to target the affected neighborhoods:

“So those folks that are living in those communities that are probably a little more fearful than normal, you will be seeing a more uniformed police officers on your streets,” Settingsgaard says.

Settingsgaard says the mid-September spike in shootings was not because of street violence. He says the victims were specifically targeted. Settingsgaard also says there’s a higher risk of becoming a victim of violent crime depending on a person’s associations.